Henry Ford Building of Freie Universität Berlin

The Henry Ford Building was designed by the architects Franz Heinrich Sobotka and Gustav Müller.
Image Credit: Reinhard Goerner

The Henry Ford Building was built between 1952 and 1954 according to the plans of the Berlin architects, Franz Heinrich Sobotka and Gustav Müller. It is located at the corner of Gary and Boltzmann Streets, near the subway stop Thielplatz in the southwestern part of Berlin.

The western wing of the Henry Ford Building contains the University Library including reading rooms, offices, and a book stacks tower. The eastern wing holds lecture halls and conference rooms. The building is protected as an historic monument and from 2005 to 2007 was completely renovated. Since then, the building complex has continued to be used for its lecture halls and, increasingly, as a conference center.

The Henry Ford Building was named after Henry Ford II, who arranged the donation of 8.1 million West German marks by the U.S.-American Ford Foundation for the construction of this building complex.